Don't Look Back
by Tessadragon
Summary: A story about Holiday and her sister. Set shortly after Rex is discovered.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Generator Rex isn't my intellectual creation. It's the MOA's, lucky thing.

Chapter 1

"Holly, where do you go at night?" the ten year old had asked her earlier. She'd been distracted, putting up the hood of her coat by the exit. She'd not even noticed that Rex had followed her from her lab. All she'd noticed was the time and that she was never going to get home in time to sleep if she didn't tear herself away from the microscope. She could hear the rain pelting down against the walls outside. "Hmm, Rex?"

"You always go, but I have to stay here," he said, watching her keenly. "Where do you go?"

"I go and have dinner with my family," Holiday had said carefully. She'd discussed family with Agent Six: Rex had no memory of family, so should they avoid the subject? They'd decided against it. He'd encounter others talking about their families so he might as well learn to cope.

Callan, a newly qualified guard, had driven her home as was the requirement of her upgraded contract to ensure her safety.

"So how's the kid?" Callan asked as he drove.

"He's adjusting well, I think," she frowned slightly. "He's bright, I'm only worried that Six'll overdo the training. He got a sprained ankle last week."

"Did Six let him off training to recover?"

"Nope," Holiday said immediately. "Well, until Rex…" she blushed. "I let him hide in my office so Six wouldn't find him." Callan had laughed heartily at that, driving through the dark, rain-slicked streets, until they finally reached the outer limits where houses were cramped together but had a tiny bit of garden.

She got out of the car. "Thanks for the lift, Callan," she said with a smile.

"Same time tomorrow, doc?" he asked. He was quite handsome, his face boyish and his light hair crisply cut.

"As long as nothing unusual happens," she said. "Thanks again." He drove off, leaving her outside the garden gate.

Now, pushing it open and walking up the path to the small house she rented with her sister and her sister's boyfriend, she stifled a laugh, remembering what else Rex had said as soon as she'd mentioned why she left the base each night.

"What's your family?" Rex demanded. "Do you have kids? No way do you have kids. You aren't married, are you Holly? I mean, you don't wear a ring—"

Holiday had laughed and assured him that there was no man in her life, just science.

"So why don't you live with us?" Rex had looked sad as he asked this. "Don't you like the idea of living with us? Hey, I could be your guy."

Living with soldiers and a ten year old…she shuddered delicately at the thought then took her key out and inserted it into the lock. As she started to turn the key, the door was pulled open from the other side and a young man nearly rammed into her.

Holiday rolled her eyes and jumped aside as he stormed off.

"Liz?" she called. "What have you done to him this time?"

"Who says it was me?" the girl's voice came from the kitchen. "He'll get over it. Come on!"

The house, small as it was, was warm with the smell of dinner. Holiday inhaled gratefully and shed her coat, her shoulders unhunching.

"You're drenched!" her sister scolded, jabbing a wooden spoon at her sister and sent a glob of some white sauce at her. "Get changed, or else—"

"You'll catch cold," Sandra Holiday finished for her, shooting her a grin. "Liz, you sound way too much like Mom."

"At least I don't cook like her," Elizabeth retorted and turned back to the cooking, feverishly stirring the sauce. "Pasta's in the sink—"

"In a sieve this time? Not the actual sink?" Sandra teased. Liz went red. "I was nine!"

"Love you sis," Sandra said randomly, lovingly as she grabbed the colander from the sink where it was propped. She poured the pasta onto the three plates. "So Tom—"

"Three, two, one," Liz said quickly with a grin and right on schedule the front door opened again and they heard Tom walking down the hallway.

"Go get changed now," Liz ordered as soon as the last of the pasta had slipped onto the plates.

That made her sister laugh and bob a mock curtsey. "Yes, ma'am. I'll let you have your apology snog now." She darted from the kitchen, dodging Tom and went upstairs to shed her wet clothes and put her briefcase in the corner of her bedroom where she couldn't see it so easily.

Home, she thought gratefully, simply, casting a look around her bedroom. Photos of her and Liz on the windowsill, the curtains a soft rose against the cream wallpaper. Her old college textbooks stacked in the bookcase by her desk, her old desktop computer almost obsolete compared to the state of the art equipment she worked with every day but she didn't care. She changed into slacks and a clean blouse then went back downstairs. As soon as she entered the kitchen, Tom and Liz broke apart, flushed. Liz grinned at her and pointed to the chair. The dinner was ready.

"So, how was work?" Liz asked.

"Same as usual. Yours?"

"Same. Boyfriend crashed in on me making out with someone from credit control."

Tom flicked pasta at her. Liz caught it neatly in her mouth. "Thanks darling. Works every time."

"Anyone would think you forgot to eat at work," Tom retorted.

"Well, you were in the same closet as me at lunch," Liz grinned.

"Enough!" Sandra gasped. "Please!"

"I could so imagine you with Keith from reconciliations," Liz said to her. "You'd make such a cute couple. Matching outfits and everything."

"He wears a skirt?"

As usual the pasta began to fly. That was the real reason to have pasta in their family. It was such a fun weapon.


	2. Chapter 2

Don't Look Back

Chapter 2

In the Holiday house, over breakfast, Sandra looked curiously at her sister Liz once or twice. Liz's boyfriend Tom didn't look at either of them, in fact he looked ready to flee. Liz's mouth twitched, like she wanted to say something but then couldn't say whatever it was. It made everything irritatingly louder, like drinking the orange juice and the crunch of toast.

Sandra finally broke the silence. "So…this Keith? Why should I find him…dishable?"

Liz heaved an actual sigh of relief before turning to Sandra, her green eyes grateful. "Green eyes, brown hair, fit," she said.

"Not bad," Sandra smiled. "Maybe we should do this double date thing—"

"While we still can—" Tom muttered. Liz growled at him and bit into her toast, swallowed. "I thought we settled it, Tom, last night."

Tom lowered his eyes and muttered, "Sorry."

"Oh please, you two didn't fight again?" Sandra asked tiredly.

"It's just…don't worry, sis. It's just a bit of a tricky time," Liz said. "I'm sure it'll be okay soon enough. Can we please talk about something else though? You should date Keith. He's got a company car. He doesn't need to shoot EVOs to earn a bonus."

"Not all of them use guns," Sandra said absent mindedly.

"Who doesn't?" Liz asked pointedly, keen.

Sandra knew her sister well enough and quickly decided to play along. "Well, he's tall, dark hair, really fit—"

"Eyes?"

"I don't know that," Sandra admitted. "He always wears sunglasses."

"Take them off him," Liz urged. "Pretend he needs a physical, or an eye test."

That made Sandra laugh. Even Tom had to smile.

"Or drug him, you have plenty of drugs don't you? Make him pass out and then take the damn glasses off."

"It'd be wrong," Sandra demurred.

"But it must be killing you not to know what colour his eyes are," Liz argued.

"Come on love, time to go to work," Tom got up and kissed her cheek, and took their plates to the sink. "Bye Sandra."

"Take care, you guys." She watched them go towards the hallway and moments later the front door opened and closed. She looked up at the kitchen clock. Not long to go before Callan would get here. She finished her breakfast and stashed the dirty plates in the sink for when she got home.

* * *

Holiday tapped her fingers in a rhythm against the windowsill as she looked at the street beyond the glass. The pavement outside her house was annoyingly empty. "C'mon, c'mon…" she looked at her watch. Callan was twenty whole minutes late collecting her for work. The house was cooling down to wait for everyone's return from their respective workplaces.

As always she had to smile and roll her eyes at how different her sister became as soon as she was in one of her suits, getting ready for her work at the bank. She had 'de-crazied' as their family had always called it.

Bored already, Holiday slid open the drawer of the telephone's table and took out the slender address book. She flipped through the pages, name after name crossed out with markers from where people had moved and either decided not to, or just forgotten to forward on new details. Liz is a lot like Mom was, Sandra thought. Zany, a livewire, a hostess of the best parties. She had a much bigger address book upstairs in her room. Sandra just kept all the numbers she needed in her mobile phone. She replaced the thin address book back into its drawer and slid it shut, then returned to looking out of the window. Twenty five minutes late…

Finally her mobile phone's trill broke through the silence. She grabbed it like a lifeline. "Callan?"

"Six," the voice corrected. "So Callan hasn't picked you up. Shall I come across instead?"

Holiday bit her lip and looked down at her watch. I could leave a note on the door, she thought.

"Alright," she said. "It won't put you out, will it?"

"I needed to grant Rex an excursion anyway."

That made Holiday laugh. "You make it sound like walking a dog, you remember Rex is a boy, don't you?"

"Yes. We'll be there shortly."

"You do know where I live, right?"

"Yes." He disconnected the call.

Wow, the legendary Six knows where I live…Holiday glanced self-consciously at her hallway then reached her foot out and nudged an errant folded corner of the rug back. Her green eyes flicked towards the door. They'll be a while, she decided then rushed through the house, stuffing anything into the dishwasher, possibly even a dishtowel, just to make the counter clear, shoved the sofa back into its place—Liz and Tom must've watched a movie last night after their tempers had cooled—and re-did her hair, smiling embarrassedly at herself in the mirror as she did so.

No more looking out of the window, she told herself sternly then made herself grab a book—something intelligent yet not too work-obsessed, she hoped as she didn't feel like reading a single word of it, and dropped into the single stuffed chair. The black print swam before her eyes and she listened hard until a fist banged on the door.

Six would never knock like that, Holiday thought calmly. It must be Callan.

Instead, Rex grinned up at her from the doorstep before craning his neck to look at the hallway behind her. Six watched him stoically. "Rex, you do remember what I said, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah," Rex nodded quickly. "Something about Holiday's house. And this is Holiday's house!"

Holiday burst out laughing.

"Pleeeeease can I see?" Rex gazed at her hopefully. Then he played the wild card, "I've never seen a real house before…only Providence…"

Holiday gave Six an amused look, which he didn't return, only waited for her decision. In answer, Holiday opened the door wider and Rex ran under her arm, staring rapt up the stairs. "Where do they go?" he asked.

"Bedrooms, bathroom," Holiday said amused.

"And what's down here?" Rex pointed down the hallway.

"Kitchen, lounge…" Rex already ran to investigate. "Wow, you must be a cool cook, Holiday, it smells good in here, or do you have a cook?"

Holiday laughed. "I don't get paid enough for that. My sister cooked today. She's at work now."

"Does she work for Providence too? Does she look like you?"

"No and yes."

"Do you have a garden?"

"Only the front garden."

"That's cool!"

Holiday smiled wryly. "Okay, five more minutes and then we've got to go. I need to get some work done today."

"Pfft, I can get you there real quick," Rex boasted.

"Wheels or wings?" Holiday asked.

"He did wings on the way here," Six answered. "So he should do wheels on the way back."

"He managed to fly all the way here?"

"Good exercise," Six said.

"Six walked," Rex said. "I think he must have nanites in his legs. That's why he beat me."

"I led the way," Six corrected. "So you would know where to fly."

Rex rolled his eyes and wandered back into the lounge to drop into a chair. "Tell me…when the five minutes…" he yawned widely.

"Your five minutes ended a minute ago. Time to go, Rex. Doctor." Six turned and headed out.

"So we're walking back to Providence?" Holiday asked uncertainly. Rex yawned again and prised his brown eyes open, rubbed them with his eyes then snapped the band of his goggles to wake himself up more.

"No. Rex can give you a ride. It'll be a test of his nanites to hold even when he's…excitable."

Oh yippee, Holiday thought nervously, grabbing her briefcase. So that's why he was told to use the wings on the way here and the wheels on the way back.

As she somewhat ill-at-ease wrapped her arms around Rex's torso to hold on after he transformed his legs into the Rex Ride as they'd nicknamed that particular build, she thought of her sister, and how she must feel when she rode to work on the back of Tom's motorbike. Not much the same actually, seeing as she'd had to press her briefcase between her chest and Rex's back to make sure she didn't drop it. She imagined White Knight might have a conniption if she told him she'd lost Providence work.

Gonna have to redo my hair when I get to work, Holiday thought, swiping a strand of it out of her mouth.

Near enough to one of the entrances to the Providence Base, Rex remembered to stop and let Holiday climb off before transforming back, and then beamed triumphantly at her. "How was I?"

"That was well done," Holiday smiled. Six was already in view, not looking at all winded. He looked like running the Great Wall of China wouldn't bother him as he slowed near them and straightened his tie. "Corners need to be tighter, Rex," he said. "Particularly during pursuits."

"Party pooer," Rex muttered.

"You mean party pooper," Holiday corrected.

"That too."


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks Tigerlilly99, Peacexfreedom and Lilly for the reviews, they're much appreciated :-)

* * *

Don't Look Back Chapter 3

In the corner of Holiday's lab was a cage covered in a dark sheet. Holiday didn't give it much attention as she checked her paperwork. Rex sat on the table, swinging his legs. Six stood at ease, "This one's plant type."

Holiday nodded and noted it down, while Rex continued swinging his legs boredly then finally jumped down and strolled towards the cage. "Ready."

"Now then, Rex." Six whipped the sheet off the cage, then disengaged the lock and pulled the EVO out by one of its tendril-like arms. Rex eyed it with disdain. "What the heck kinda EVO is it, Six? A daisy with teeth? It wasn't a plant, was it? You know I'm not good with plant EVOs."

"It was definitely a human," Six said dryly, holding it still in an armlock. "His daughter vouched for him when we caught him."

Rex covered a yawn and adjusted his gloves, one of the first things he'd ever been given by Six when it'd been established that the EVO curing work was going to be messy. "Fine. One deactivated EVO, coming right up." Then he pressed his hand to the EVO's skin. "Eww," he moaned. "It feels like something that crawled out of a pond and died."

Holiday suppressed a smile. "You're wearing gloves, Rex."

"You try touching it," Rex said, shuddering. "You'd feel it through six trash cans."

"Well then, cure it and it won't any more," Six said calmly, holding onto the EVO, keeping its arms pinned behind its back.

Rex rolled his eyes but kept his hand where it was. As easily as climbing a step, he accessed the instinct that allowed him to interface with the nanites, felt that surge as the nanites bonded to the EVO's, stripping them of the corrupted programming—or rather, tried to. A slight frown marred his features. "Doc…"

Holiday stepped forward. "What is it, Rex?"

Rex focused, gritting his teeth and pressed his hand harder against the EVO's flesh. It thrashed.

"Stop it!" Rex yelled at it. "Change back, why don't you?"

Holiday and Six exchanged a look.

"Rex, are you okay?" Holiday demanded. "Do you want it back in the cage?" Six asked, his brow furrowing.

Rex let out a whoosh of breath that he hadn't known he was holding. "Yeah," he whispered. "You'd better." Then he fell backwards to the floor, his head making a solid thud as it met it.

"Rex!" Holiday rushed to check on him while Six bullied the EVO back into the cage and locked it again. He grabbed the water bottle from the desk. "Is he okay, Holiday?"

Holiday hooked a medical torch out from her pocket, pried one of Rex's eyelids open and shone the light. The pupil contracted reactively and she sighed in relief. "Yes, he's fine. I think it was more the trying to cure the EVO that wore him out, not the fall."

"He shouldn't be tired," Six stated. "He's done nothing strenuous today, nothing more than training."

"No, only a trek across the city," Holiday said wryly.

"That is the normal amount of time I ask him to run," Six said calmly. He unscrewed the water bottle. "Would this help?"

"It might," Holiday said reluctantly and watched as Six tipped the water onto the kid's face.

Rex spluttered after a moment and Six moved back to dodge his punch. "Don't do that ever again!" he yelled.

"Ahem," Six said.

"**Please** don't do that ever again," Rex gritted.

"That's better."

Holiday swallowed a laugh and clicked her fingers, making Rex look at her. "Good. Auditory responses are fine. How many fingers am I holding up?" she put up three fingers.

"Three. Hey, there's Callan."

"Huh?" Holiday followed his gaze to the glass door to the lab.

Callan stood there, his hands behind his back and standing at ease but his face was grim. He gave Holiday a clear look.

"Rex, Six, go do training," Holiday said and her gut clenched in fear.

Six nodded and put a hand on Rex's shoulder, guiding him from the room. "Hey, Callan, b-ball later?"

"I'll try, kid," Callan muttered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Six hurried him off, giving Callan a hard look.

"Holiday," Callan didn't waste any time when it was just the two of them.

"I was starting to worry about you," Holiday replied.

"You need to come with me." Callan turned on his heel and strode down the corridor towards the stairs. Holiday dropped her clipboard onto the nearest surface, slammed the door close button behind herself and hurried after him. The door to the stairs clapped shut behind them. Down one floor, onto the level Holiday vaguely remembered having sets of staff rooms for different kinds of staff, clerical, scientists, military…

He opened the door to the scientists' staffroom. "Knight'll have my liver if he ever finds out I brought her on base," he warned. The staffroom was a plain room with a side of it taken up by a kitchen counter, sink, fridge and microwave. The rest of the room had a wiry kind of carpet and a plain dark sofa.

"Who?" Holiday demanded and then slammed to a halt behind him.

Liz stood by the window, a thick blanket around her shoulders. Her black hair hung bedraggled. "It's me, sis," she whispered.

"Lizzie?" Sandra Holiday came forward. "What happened? Why aren't you at work?"

There was a thin line of bruising down Liz's cheek. Sandra came forward and touched her sister's face, her fingertips barely touching the bruises and the split skin, the graze running from her jawbone to just below her eye. Her green eyes looked shiny with tears, but red all around with already-cried tears.

"Do you want me to tell her, or should you?" Callan asked, uncharacteristically soft.

"Please…you tell her," Liz folded into the sofa and curled up there, looking away from them.

"The reason I didn't pick you up from work this morning was a traffic jam," Callan said quietly. "The traffic jam was because there was a fatal accident. It was Tom. Tom was the fatality." He went to the kitchen counter and put the kettle on. "I found her there and thought she was you and she didn't tell me until we were here. I didn't even know you were a twin, Sandra."

"I'm the smarter one," Sandra said softly, at the same time as Liz whispered, "I'm the cuter one."

"Tea, coffee or hot chocolate?" Callan said.

"Hot chocolate," Sandra said for both of them. She wrapped her arms around her sister and her sister rested her head against her shoulder. "I'm all cried out," Liz said quietly.

Callan set the mugs of hot chocolate down on the table beside the sofa. "Anything I can do?"

"I think I'll be here a while," Sandra reasoned. "So could I have my clipboard and laptop? I need to work on some data anyway."

"I won't look, I promise," Liz said in a muffled voice.

"She does banking," Sandra assured Callan. "She can't even do the periodic table."

"Who can?" Callan said on heading out of the room.

"Neanderthal," Sandra whispered but was smiling. On the inside she was ice-cold though. Liz closed her eyes and rested her head against Sandra's shoulder again. Gradually she felt the tension leave her sister's body as she fell asleep.

When Callan came back, he wordlessly re-tucked the thick blanket around Liz and then set the clipboard and laptop down on the sofa arm. "I should stay," he said quietly. "If it's okay. I shouldn't have brought your sister on-premises."

"You can stay," Holiday said quietly and booted up the laptop. "I need to figure out what happened to Rex today. He was unable to cure an EVO."

"Well, you said his nanites bottomed out once or twice before when he tried curing too many EVOs?"

"It wasn't like that. He hadn't exercised the nanites today so they shouldn't have been at all taxed by it. He was really trying to cure this EVO: Six confirmed it was a human EVO. Rex actually passed out with the effort."

"His powers aren't going, are they?" He looked concerned.

"Six didn't think so but I didn't get around to running the tests. So I might have to replicate the situation later to make sure it isn't a fluke." She quickly became engrossed in inputting the information from her clipboard into her computer notes, never entirely forgetting about her sleeping sister. "I need to use my normal computer," she muttered eventually. "I need to cross reference the data from Rex's readings at the time of it, with the observations."

"If I escort her, I can allow you to take your sister to the lab," Callan said carefully. "Please don't ever tell Knight though."

"Agreed," Holiday reluctantly woke her sister. "We have to go, sis. We'll go to my lab. The workroom's quiet there."

"Got a headache," Liz said softly.

"Probably from the crying," Sandra said quietly.

The three of them left the room, Callan walking ahead of them.

"What about that game of basketball Rex wanted from you earlier?" Holiday asked as he peered around the corner.

"He'll know I'm busy," Callan said. "I can page Six that I'm busy, and that'll give him a chance to do more training."

"Oh Rex will be overjoyed," Holiday said wryly.

Liz cast a look over Holiday's office. "God sis, this is where you work every day?" she swept her eyes over her desk. "Not even any photos?" her voice was disappointed.

"I have to use all my desk space," Holiday said. "And anyway…I don't like to bring my home here. I like my home to be safe, and away from Providence."

Liz dragged a chair near to the window and sat down, gazed outside.

She looks so lost, Sandra thought, watching her. She remembered the argument just the night before, when Tom had stormed out of the house. No more arguments, she thought sadly. She settled back to her computer, transferring the information from the laptop to the computer and began the meticulous task of checking Rex's nanite readings.

"Oh no," she said softly.

Callan looked up from a magazine he was idly flicking through. "What's up?"

"I need to look at that EVO," Holiday said. "Callan, wait with Liz. I've got to get a sample from the EVO."

"You need to have an escort or someone to restrain it," he objected. "I can call Six."

"And what, tell him that you're needed to look after my sister who you snuck onto base?" Holiday shook her head. "I'll be fine." Picking up a samples kit, she left the lab.

Callan watched her leave, helpless.

"What if I go with you and her?" Liz said swiftly.

"That'll do. Quick," he ordered and threw the magazine aside and ran after Holiday, followed by Liz.


End file.
